The back story

Getting to and between the islands: ferries, island flights and the Tenerife tram

In depth·Canary Islands

Eight airports, fast ferries from Los Cristianos to La Gomera and from Santa Cruz to Agaete, the Corralejo ferry between Fuerteventura and Lanzarote and the tram from Santa Cruz to La Laguna: how to move around the Canary Islands.

A Fred. Olsen Express fast ferry off the coast of Tenerife
A Fred. Olsen Express fast ferry off the coast of Tenerife
Photo CreditImage courtesy of © Piotrus (Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Every island in the Canaries has its own airport, and the seven are tied together by ferries. From Tenerife, the fast ferry from Los Cristianos reaches San Sebastián de La Gomera, and the ferry from Santa Cruz crosses to Agaete on Gran Canaria in about 80 minutes; in the east, ferries link Corralejo on Fuerteventura with Playa Blanca on Lanzarote (Fred. Olsen Express; Armas Trasmediterránea).

Ferries

Fred. Olsen Express and Armas Trasmediterránea (now part of Baleària Canarias) run the inter-island fast ferries: Los Cristianos to San Sebastián de La Gomera, Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Agaete, Corralejo to Playa Blanca, and routes on to La Palma, El Hierro and Morro Jable (their sites).

On the islands

On Tenerife, Metrotenerife’s tram runs between Santa Cruz and La Laguna. Elsewhere, buses (guaguas, in the island word) and hire cars do the work: Guaguas Municipales in Las Palmas and Global across Gran Canaria, TITSA on Tenerife.

Book ferries with a car well ahead in summer and at Christmas; foot passengers can usually buy on the day.

Our advice: for La Gomera as a day trip, take the first ferry from Los Cristianos and the last one back.

Why it's on our list

  • Ferries
  • On the islands

Location

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